Blog from the Broadcast Booth - Les Stoodley

There's much more to the Moncton Wildcats organization than playing hockey. While the primary focus is where it should be, on the players and the game they play on the ice, they contribute to the community in many more ways.

I had the opportunity to see the level of that contribution first hand during the recent Reading is Wild program, which is a community project spearheaded by the Wildcats with the sponsorship of RBC, the Times&Transcript and supported by Boston Pizza and Scholastic Books.

Four schools in School District 2 were involved this year. They were Hillsborough Elementary, Claude D. Taylor, Bessborough/Uplands and Magnetic Hill Elementary. The goal for the five week campaign which started the middle of January and ended on February 13th was to have the students at these schools read a total of 47,000 book. They blew the projection out of the water hitting a total of over 148,000 books read.

I visited the four schools and had a chance to interact with the students. It was an absolute delight. The students level of interest in reading was astounding and part of their motivation came from their heroes, the young men who wear the jersey of the Moncton Wildcats. The players visited the schools, spent time with the students and provided a great level of motivation for the Reading is Wild program.

Amy Richard, the Wildcats Manager of Sponsorship,Sales and Activation coordinated the program and deserves a great deal of credit for its success. I was responsible for getting out a weekly media release on the program's progress. Every Thursday was "excitment day" for us, as the numbers from the schools came in. Friday, February 13th was certainly a lucky day for everyone who participated in Reading is Wild. I could hardly wait to get to the office to get the final numbers from Amy and start writing the release. I was thrilled with the totals from each school and to be a small part of a program that touched so many children.

I'll treasure the memory of spending time with the students, reading to them and sharing their excitment about the Wildcats. One particular incident stands out as a perfect example of the way these children see the Wildcats as role models. At Magnetic Hill school, a little boy, I guesseed about seven years old, tugged on my Wildcats jacket as I was leaving the auditorium where I spoke to the students. "Sir," he asked, "Sir, do you know Nicola Riopel?' "Oh yes," I replied, "I know Nicola very well." The child's eyes glowed as he looked up at me, "Sir," he said with only the joy of childhood can hold, "Sir, he's my hero."

There is indeed more to the Moncton Wildcats than playing hockey.

Blogs from the Broadcast Booth - Les Stoodley

I'd like to salute the other guy who writes blogs for the Moncton Wildcats, team captain Matt Eagles. Matt skated in his 200th game in a Wildcats jersey on January 28th against Gatineau.

Born into a hockey family, Matt played his first game with the Cats in September of 2005 at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre in Bathurst. He was a rookie on that great team that captured Moncton's first Presidents Cup.

Matt grew up in hockey arenas. His father Mike played 853 games in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques, Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals. Mike is now the Head Coach of the St. Thomas Tommies in the Atlantic Universities League.

The younger Eagles was learning the tricks of the trade from big names in the show while he was still a youngster. Imagine getting tips from a guy like Adam Graves. Or skating with the Jets or Capitals, no small thrill for any young hockey player.

Here's one of the many stories about Matt's abilities as a youngster. A few years back, Gerard Belliveau, was a minor hockey coach in Frediction, he's now the town manager in Shediac. He tells the story of getting help from Matt at a provincial tournament. Gerard was short a couple of players and one of his coaching buddies suggested he bring up this Eagles kid, who was a couple of years younger than the team participating in the tournament. Gerard says he was doubtful about starting such a small, young player but on his first shift, Matt whipped around three players from the opposing team, gave the goalie a head-fake and backhanded a roofer just under the crossbar. Matt went on to score a bunch of goals in the tournament and Belliveau knew there was a Q player in the making.

The rest as they say is history. Matt made the Wildcats and for the past four years has been a driving force in the teams success. Danny Flynn had no hesitation in giving him the "C" when this season began in September. If leadership is a learned skill, then Matt has learned well.

The best way I know to define dedication is to slip downstairs on an off day and there in the gym, you'll find Matt Eagles, working out, many times alone. He's quiet guy, but don't be fooled by that soft spoken voice or the nice guy image he projects. When the gear is on, so is Eagles.
He's deserves applause for what he brings to the game and the Wildcats.